It's interesting to look at this song almost a decade removed from the controversy that spawned it. You remember the ordeal -- the Dixie Chicks told the world that they were ashamed of President Bush Jr. and the Iraq war he was currently selling the American people, outrage ensued, and band went from being perceived as a group of Good Ol' Girls to a trio of liberal renegades. It didn't take long for the rest of the country to follow. Pretty soon, we were all shouting, "WE DON'T WANT THIS WAR!" at the top of our lungs. For these reasons, this song remains a symbol for an important shift in the American psyche.
But now our outrage is focused elsewhere. Very few people are even talking about the time the Dixie Chicks created a political frenzy. So what does the song mean today? Is it simply a time capsule? A reminder of this one very specific, confusing, sensitive moment in our history? Or does it represent something wholly new? Without the specificity of events, is it a more personal piece? A more universal message?
I'm not going to pretend to know the answers to those questions, but what I did try to provide here is a very stripped down, live version of the tune, that will hopefully give you a chance to hear it again from a new perspective.
Up top, you have the video. Below, you have the audio. But you already know that. You are smart internet people.
Talk soon,
Kyle